editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94NPR News' Brian Naylor is a correspondent on the Washington Desk.In this role, he covers politics and federal agencies, including transportation and homeland security.With more than 30 years of experience at NPR, Naylor has served as National Desk correspondent, White House correspondent, congressional correspondent, foreign correspondent and newscaster during All Things Considered. He has filled in as host on many NPR programs, including Morning Edition, Weekend Edition and Talk of the Nation.During his NPR career, Naylor has covered many of the major world events, including political conventions, the Olympics, the White House, Congress and the mid-Atlantic region. Naylor reported from Tokyo in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, from New Orleans following the BP oil spill, and from West Virginia after the deadly explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine.While covering the U.S. Congress in the mid-1990s, Naylor's reporting contributed to NPR's 1996 Alfred I. duPontNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Brian NaylorFri, 02 Dec 2016 00:02:39 +0000Brian Naylorhttp://northernpublicradio.org
Brian NaylorPresident-elect Donald Trump vows its going to be "very, very difficult" for companies to move their operations outside the U.S. under his administration.Trump appeared Thursday afternoon before workers at a Carrier plant in Indianapolis, whose jobs were saved when the company reversed plans to expand to a facility in Mexico. That decision followed calls Trump made to the top executive of Carrier's parent company, United Technologies.Trump said companies are not going to leave the U.S. anymore "without consequences." Those who do, he said, will be "taxed very heavily at the border." Congress, which is controlled by Republicans generally averse to new taxes, would need to approve such a plan.According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, United Technologies will receive $7 million in tax breaks over 10 years for agreeing to keep the 1,000 Carrier jobs in Indiana. The Indiana Business Journal reported United Technologies was also afraid of losing defense contracts.Independent VermontTrump Warns U.S. Companies Will Be Taxed Very Heavily If They Leave Country http://northernpublicradio.org/post/trump-warns-us-companies-will-be-taxed-very-heavily-if-they-leave-country
91229 as http://northernpublicradio.orgThu, 01 Dec 2016 21:57:00 +0000Trump Warns U.S. Companies Will Be Taxed Very Heavily If They Leave Country Brian NaylorSo here's a riddle: What college doesn't have a campus, or professors, or students or even a football team?Give up? The Electoral College!OK, that was a little juvenile (if you really want to bring back your childhood, here's a video explaining the Electoral College by Schoolhouse Rock.)But there are a lot of misconceptions about the Electoral College, according to Oliver Potts, director of the Office of the Federal Register. The college, he said, is not a place or entity or organization, "it's a process."Potts's agency is best known for publishing all of the federal regulations and other policies, what Potts calls "the daily business of the federal government." And thanks to a reorganization after World War II, the Federal Register is also the custodian of the Electoral College.Potts said his office is essentially the institutional memory of the college, keeping current with the process. "We remember what it is and we remind the states, because there are often changes betweenTrump's Election Calls Attention To Electoral College And Small Federal Agency http://northernpublicradio.org/post/trumps-election-calls-attention-electoral-college-and-small-federal-agency
91147 as http://northernpublicradio.orgWed, 30 Nov 2016 04:16:00 +0000Trump's Election Calls Attention To Electoral College And Small Federal Agency Brian NaylorPresident-elect Donald Trump says he has a simple goal in mind when it comes to federal regulations. In a video he released Monday, Trump said he "will formulate a rule that says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated. So important." There are some 80,000 pages in the Federal Register, where all regulations are published. So it should be a simple task to pare back some of them. Wrong."It's generally not easy to do that," says Susan Dudley, who heads the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University. Undoing regulations, she says, is neither quick nor simple. To repeal a regulation, Dudley says a federal agency "would have to go through the notice and comment rule-making process, the same process that's used to develop a new regulation and that would take at least a year."So basically everything an agency does to create a rule, it has to do to repeal one.There is a work-around, at least for the most recently approved regulations: theVowing To Roll Back Regulations, Trump Faces Uphill Taskhttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/vowing-roll-back-regulations-trump-faces-uphill-task
90985 as http://northernpublicradio.orgFri, 25 Nov 2016 10:00:00 +0000Vowing To Roll Back Regulations, Trump Faces Uphill TaskBrian NaylorAfter a week filled with questions and rumors of turmoil behind the scenes of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team, his staff is now publicly laying out a more concrete timetable to get their work of ensuring a smooth handoff up to speed.The Trump transition team will begin notifying the Obama administration of its designees to meet with current agency officials starting today.That will start with national security. So-called "landing teams" assigned to the Department of Defense, the State Department, the National Security Council and the Department of Justice will be submitted to the White House today and will soon begin their meetings with Obama administration officials, Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the president-elect, told reporters today.The names of Trump's representatives will be made public tomorrow on the Trump transition website, www.greatagain.gov.These announcements come as Trump prepares to greet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his Manhattan office laterTrump Transition Work Set To Pick Up Speed http://northernpublicradio.org/post/trump-transition-work-set-pick-speed
90689 as http://northernpublicradio.orgThu, 17 Nov 2016 18:37:00 +0000Trump Transition Work Set To Pick Up Speed Brian NaylorReince Priebus once joked about his job as chairman of the Republican National Committee that people assumed he must be miserable. But Priebus said he didn't see it that way. "I'm not pouring Bailey's in my cereal," he told CNN.Now, as newly named chief of staff to President-elect Donald Trump, Priebus has his work cut out for him.Priebus will have a large say in hiring West Wing staff, and will "be in charge of day to day operations," he told Fox News on Monday morning. He'll also have the president-elect's ear as a top adviser.It's also the chief of staff's job to make sure there is time for the President to look at the big picture. That's what Josh Bolten advises. Bolten was Chief of staff during the final three years of the George W. Bush White House "The biggest challenge that anyone in the chief of staff's role faces," Bolten says,"is to make sure that the urgent does not drive out the important."As head of the RNC, Priebus saw that the party's apparatus and organization were inWho Is Reince Priebus, Trump's Newly Named Chief Of Staff? http://northernpublicradio.org/post/who-reince-priebus-trumps-new-chief-staff
90533 as http://northernpublicradio.orgMon, 14 Nov 2016 14:30:00 +0000Who Is Reince Priebus, Trump's Newly Named Chief Of Staff? Brian NaylorPresident-elect Trump is shaking up the leadership of his transition team, naming Vice President-elect Mike Pence as chairman. Pence will take over the role from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was named as a vice chairman of the team's executive committee.Pence, Indiana's governor and a former congressman, brings some Washington expertise and has long-standing relationships with congressional leaders such as House Speaker Paul Ryan.Christie led the Trump transition effort during the campaign. Two of his top aides were convicted in the "Bridgegate" scandal just before the election, which may have hurt his standing with the Trump team. But Christie could also still be in contention for a job in the Trump administration.Others named as executive committee vice chairmen are Ben Carson, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions.Trump also named his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, daughter Ivanka andPresident-Elect Trump Names Pence To Lead Transition Teamhttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/president-elect-trump-names-pence-lead-transition-team
90440 as http://northernpublicradio.orgFri, 11 Nov 2016 20:26:00 +0000President-Elect Trump Names Pence To Lead Transition TeamBrian NaylorPresident Obama, saying "we are all rooting for his success," vowed his staff would work as hard as it can to ensure a successful transition of power to president-elect Donald Trump.Obama spoke in the White House Rose Garden with Vice President Joe Biden at his side. The president had phoned Trump at 3:30 Wednesday morning to congratulate him on his upset victory over democrat Hillary Clinton, and invited Trump to the White House Thursday to discuss transition matters.Obama said it is no secret that he and Trump have "pretty significant differences." But Obama said he and former President George W. Bush had significant differences too, but still had a smooth transition after Obama's election in 2008.Later White House spokesman Josh Earnest, asked whether the president would take steps to protect some of his policies, including the nuclear agreement with Iran and the Affordable Care Act before leaving office, responded that Obama would still be President until January 20th.Obama spokeWATCH: President Obama On Trump Win, Clinton Losshttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/watch-president-obama-speaks-trump-win-clinton-loss
90325 as http://northernpublicradio.orgWed, 09 Nov 2016 17:39:00 +0000WATCH: President Obama On Trump Win, Clinton LossBrian NaylorConcerns about the possible hacking of voting systems on Election Day are growing. 46 states have asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help make sure their systems are protected from disruptions on Tuesday. And some states, like Ohio, are taking steps on their own.Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, says his state worked with "all available public and private cyber security experts" to test Ohio's voting systems, including a newly-created cybersecurity unit at the state's National Guard.Husted says the guard unit was invited to come in and test the system for vulnerabilities. "Where they found them, then we were able to fix them, shore them up, to make sure that things were as secure as they could be heading into the general election."Husted wont say what the tests found. But he stresses none of Ohio's voting machines are connected to the Internet, and that nothing related "to the casting or counting of votes is subject to a cybersecurity attack." However, heExperts Warn Of Election Day Cyberattackshttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/experts-warn-election-day-cyberattacks
90154 as http://northernpublicradio.orgSat, 05 Nov 2016 16:33:00 +0000Experts Warn Of Election Day CyberattacksBrian NaylorThe federal government, filled with creaky computer systems that are a poor match for the cybersecurity threats that agencies face from an array of hackers, criminals and foreign governments, is hoping for a multibillion-dollar capital infusion to modernize its IT infrastructure.U.S. Chief Information Officer Tony Scott says trying to protect current federal IT infrastructure, some of which is decades old, is like "trying to put air bags into an old car." It can be done, he says, but it's not going to work as effectively as a new car that had air bags as part of the design.The hack of the Office of Personnel Management computers — which exposed records including Social Security numbers and fingerprints of more than 20 million government workers, contractors and family members — was a dramatic and frightening example of the problem facing government IT managers.While the Obama administration has budgeted some $82 billion in IT spending for 2017, most of that is to maintain legacyObama Urges A Boost In IT Spending To Secure Federal Computers http://northernpublicradio.org/post/obama-urges-boost-it-spending-secure-federal-computers
89780 as http://northernpublicradio.orgThu, 27 Oct 2016 21:39:00 +0000Obama Urges A Boost In IT Spending To Secure Federal Computers Brian Naylor"It's the consumers' information. How it is used should be the consumers' choice." So said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler as the commission adopted rules requiring Internet service providers such as Comcast and Verizon to get customers' permission before selling the data they collect to marketers.The vote was 3-2 along party lines.ISPs are the gateway to the Internet and collect information about the movies we watch, the websites we visit and, in the case of smartphones, the actual physical locations of where we are. It's a valuable trove of data, which the ISPs typically collect and package to data brokers and marketers without consumers' knowledge or permission.As Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who voted for the new rules, put it, "Our digital footprints are no longer in sand, they are in wet cement."Under the new FCC rules, ISPs will have to inform consumers about what information is collected and how it is used and shared, and identify the types of entities with which the ISP sharesFCC Vote Means Internet Providers Need Permission To Share Your Datahttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/fcc-vote-means-internet-providers-need-permission-share-your-data
89761 as http://northernpublicradio.orgThu, 27 Oct 2016 19:14:00 +0000FCC Vote Means Internet Providers Need Permission To Share Your DataBrian NaylorIn a political season full of "did they really go there?" moments, there was another last night on the Fox News Channel. Host Megyn Kelly, a past target of Donald Trump's tweets, was interviewing former House speaker, now Trump surrogate, Newt Gingrich.Gingrich expressed his ire over the amount of time the news media have devoted to coverage of the women who have accused Trump of making unwanted sexual advances, compared with coverage of Hillary Clinton's speech leaked to WikiLeaks in which she talks about open borders.You can watch the ensuing exchange here:"You are fascinated with sex, and you don't care about public policy," Gingrich said.Kelly replied, "Me, really?"Gingrich: "That's what I get out of watching you tonight."Kelly: "You know what, Mr. Speaker? I'm not fascinated by sex, but I am fascinated by the protection of women and understanding what we're getting in the oval office ... "Gingrich then brought up former President Bill Clinton, saying he will be "back in the EastWATCH: Megyn Kelly And Newt Gingrich Spar Over 'Sexual Predators'http://northernpublicradio.org/post/watch-megyn-kelly-and-newt-gingrich-spar-over-sexual-predators
89691 as http://northernpublicradio.orgWed, 26 Oct 2016 13:26:00 +0000WATCH: Megyn Kelly And Newt Gingrich Spar Over 'Sexual Predators'Brian NaylorIn case you needed more evidence of the toll this divisive campaign is taking on America, a new survey says more than a third of social media users are "worn out" by the amount of political content they encounter. That's nearly twice as many who say they welcome the political content they find on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.The survey of more than 4500 adults was done by the Pew Research Center. It found that 37% of social media users report being worn out, compared to the 20% who say they like seeing lots of seeing lots of political information.59%, meanwhile, describe their online interactions with people they disagree with as "stressful and frustrating," and 64% say their online encounters with those they disagree with leave them feeling "as if they have less in common than they thought."If you find the tone of political discourse on social media troubling, well, you're not alone. 40% of social media users strongly agree that that social media platforms are places whereMany 'Worn Out' By Campaign, Survey Of Social Media Users Showshttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/many-worn-out-campaign-survey-social-media-users-shows
89661 as http://northernpublicradio.orgTue, 25 Oct 2016 18:27:00 +0000Many 'Worn Out' By Campaign, Survey Of Social Media Users ShowsBrian NaylorPresident Obama's days in office are dwindling, and it's clear he intends to have as much fun as he can on the way out. Last night during a West Coast fundraising trip, he stopped by ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live.Obama took part in a recurring bit called "Mean Tweets," which consists of reading aloud some of the, you guessed it, mean tweets about him of late.Such as:@nathan: "Barack Obama is the Nickelback of presidents."@woodstockdave: "Obama couldn't negotiate getting a Whopper without pickles."@duckpunks: "I bet Obama likes mustard on his hotdogs because hes gross."@momof4munchkins: "Just found out my daughter shares a birthday with Obama PUKE."@Maaaaartz: "Barack Obama dances like how his jeans look."@heather____98: "My mom bought new conditioner and it sucks it isn't even conditioning my hair I blame Obama."@DJ_lcpl: "Barack Obama...bro, do you even lift!?"(To which Obama responded, "Well, I lifted the ban on Cuban cigars, that's worth something.")@James141980: "Barack Obama is theWATCH: Obama Reads 'Mean Tweets' — Including One From Trumphttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/watch-obama-reads-mean-tweets-including-one-trump
89641 as http://northernpublicradio.orgTue, 25 Oct 2016 13:56:00 +0000WATCH: Obama Reads 'Mean Tweets' — Including One From TrumpBrian NaylorATPresidential Campaigns Blast AT&T-Time Warner Mergerhttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/presidential-campaigns-blast-att-time-warner-merger
89601 as http://northernpublicradio.orgMon, 24 Oct 2016 16:13:00 +0000Presidential Campaigns Blast ATBrian NaylorHow would Donald Trump "drain the swamp" in Washington as he puts it? Two words: term limits.At a rally in Colorado Springs, Colo., Tuesday, Trump said if elected in November he will "push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress."Trump did not elaborate on how many terms lawmakers could serve. The idea of capping how long lawmakers can spend in Washington is popular with many in the GOP and has been proposed before, most notably as part of the Republicans' "Contract with America" in 1994. The measure was taken up by the GOP-led House after that election but didn't come close to winning the necessary 2/3 majority to send it to the Senate.That proposal would have limited House members to two two-year terms and senators to two six-year terms. Several states have successfully enacted term limits for their legislatures.Trump's proposal comes a day after he offered a five-point package of ethics reforms:Instituting a five-year ban on all executiveTrump Proposes Term Limits For Congresshttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/trump-proposes-term-limits-congress
89354 as http://northernpublicradio.orgTue, 18 Oct 2016 21:45:00 +0000Trump Proposes Term Limits For CongressBrian NaylorAt Sunday night's presidential debate, Donald Trump unwittingly launched a new meme. In the town hall setting, a Muslim woman asked the candidates about Islamaphobia.Trump's response: "We have to be sure that Muslims come in and report when they see something going on."Many have taken up the challenge on Twitter, and #muslimsreportstuff quickly went viral. Responses have ranged from sarcastic, to serious to funny. One of the first and perhaps most widely shared Tweet came from Brooklyn College professor Moustafa Bayoumi:There are many others. Some are self-reporting:Some are being used to settle sibling rivalries:Others are food oriented:Others are undefinable:This one though is our favorite: Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.Trump Debate Comment Inspires #MuslimsReportStuff, And It's Very Funnyhttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/trump-debate-comment-inspires-muslimsreportstuff-and-its-very-funny
89052 as http://northernpublicradio.orgTue, 11 Oct 2016 19:38:00 +0000Trump Debate Comment Inspires #MuslimsReportStuff, And It's Very FunnyBrian NaylorA riff by Donald Trump at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Monday night about Hillary Clinton's culpability in the deaths of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, is raising questions about where exactly Trump got his information and how.During his speech, Trump held up a piece of paper. "This just came out a little while ago. I have to tell you this," Trump said as he read from the page, which he identified as an email from Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal."The attack was almost certainly preventable," Trump read. He continued, "Clinton was in charge of the State Department ... if the GOP wants to raise that as a talking point against her, it is legitimate."Trump said, "In other words he [Blumenthal] is admitting that they could have done something about Benghazi. This just came out, a little while ago."Trump folded the page and let it fall to the floor, and his audience booed.So was this indeed a private admission by a Clinton ally that she wasTrump Apparently Quotes Russian Propaganda To Slam Clinton On Benghazihttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/trump-apparently-quotes-russian-propaganda-slam-clinton-benghazi
89041 as http://northernpublicradio.orgTue, 11 Oct 2016 16:16:00 +0000Trump Apparently Quotes Russian Propaganda To Slam Clinton On BenghaziBrian NaylorThe control tower at a major metropolitan airport can be a pretty chatty place.Some of the chatter comes from air traffic controllers literally and phonetically spelling out the routes pilots need to follow to their destinations, using the foxtrot-lima-sierra-tango alphabet.When a weather issue — say, a line of thunderstorms — pops up, routes have to be changed, often while the plane is already on the taxiway. So the controllers spell out new directions to the pilots, the pilots take them down and then carefully read back the instructions to the tower.If the pilot mishears the instructions — well, the process begins again.All of this can take several minutes, delaying departures, burning fuel and emitting carbon.But now technology is coming to the rescue. The Federal Aviation Administration's new system, called Data Comm, lets traffic controllers and pilots exchange information electronically — still in the air-traffic lingo, but displaying like text messages.One carrier already usingAir Traffic Controllers And Pilots Can Now Communicate Electronicallyhttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/air-traffic-controllers-and-pilots-can-now-communicate-electronically
88733 as http://northernpublicradio.orgMon, 03 Oct 2016 21:00:00 +0000Air Traffic Controllers And Pilots Can Now Communicate ElectronicallyBrian NaylorFor months now, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have been sparring at each other from afar. On Monday they'll do it face to face, on a stage at Hofstra University on Long Island in New York.Debates have been a mainstay of presidential campaigns, it seems forever. But that's not quite the case: The first general election debate didn't occur until 1960, in a Chicago TV studio, between Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy.Monday's debate between Clinton and Trump will take place on the 56th anniversary of that first debate.NBC's Lester Holt will moderate. And there's already been a lot of talk about how he'll go about it, especially regarding whether he should be fact-checking the candidates' answers. The co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, Republican Frank Fahrenkopf, doesn't think so.Fahrenkopf says if "Candidate A" says something that is wrong or inconsistent with what they've done or said in the past, "it's not theMonday's Debate Latest In History Of (Sometimes) Memorable Encountershttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/mondays-debate-latest-history-sometimes-memorable-encounters
88395 as http://northernpublicradio.orgSat, 24 Sep 2016 17:19:00 +0000Monday's Debate Latest In History Of (Sometimes) Memorable EncountersBrian NaylorThe first presidential debate, to be held next Monday, Sept. 26, at Hofstra University in New York, will be divided into three 30-minute segments on three topics, according to the Commission On Presidential Debates co-chairman, Frank Fahrenkopf.That's a bit different from the original announcement for the first debate, which said there would be six 15-minute segments. Farhrenkopf told NPR that it was moderator Lester Holt's decision to combine the segments.The topics will be: the Direction of America, Achieving Prosperity and Securing America.Fahrenkopf says there will be an audience, divided between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump supporters, with tickets also available for the commission and Hofstra University.Like the country, Fahrenkopf says he doesn't fully know what to expect at the debate. "It's clear that there's no love between them," he said. "And how they will present themselves to the American people is anyone's guess."There will be no commercial breaks, and FahrenkopfFirst Presidential Debate To Focus On Prosperity, Security And Nation's Directionhttp://northernpublicradio.org/post/first-presidential-debate-focus-prosperity-security-and-nations-direction
88204 as http://northernpublicradio.orgMon, 19 Sep 2016 20:56:47 +0000First Presidential Debate To Focus On Prosperity, Security And Nation's Direction